A Dark-Brown Dog by Steven Crane

Summary

A Dark-Brown Dog by Steven Crane is a story about a little dog, a young boy, and their relationship.  This young boy was leaning against a fence one day when this little dark-brown dog was walking along the sidewalk.  There was a short rope around his neck which means that he probably ran away from his previous owners, or the owners may have let him go.  The child started to call for the dog and eventually the dog went to him.  The child starts to pet him and the dog is very happy, so happy that he almost knocks the child over.  The child then hits him on the head.  He does this again until the dog rolls over on his back and “offered a small prayer to the child” (1).The child forgave him but the dog still was upset by what he had done so he continued praying to the child.  The child starting heading home when he realized that the dog was following him.  He started beating the dog once again. This happened many times but the little dog was persistent.  When the child reached his doorstep, he allowed the dog to come and be pet.  The child now saw the dog as a valuable thing and took him upstairs to his house in the tenement. While upstairs they played and became best friends.

Their fun was short-lived because soon enough the child’s parents came home.  They were not very happy that the child brought the dog in the house.  The child stood up and told his family why the dog is valuable.  The father was actually the parent that made the final decision that the dog could stay in the household.  The little boy and the dog became very close, even the family eventually stopped hitting and throwing things at the dog because it would upset the child. Whenever the dog would be beaten, he always felt guilty and never held a grudge against the child.  The two became inseparable.  One day, the father came home drunk and although the child noticed, the dog did not.  The father immediately saw the dog and starting throwing kitchen appliances at it.  The dog surrendered by lying on his back and saying a prayer.  The father took the dog, swung it around his head, and threw him out the window.  The dog landed on a roof five stories below and then rolled into the alleyway.  The child rushed downstairs and sat by the dog’s body.